Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is a large, hectic city that reminds me quite a bit of large cities in South America. The unfortunate difference, however, is that I understand nothing of the language. But most everyone speaks English here and getting around isn't too hard at all. Since I arrived well before check-in the first day, I spent it wandering around the city. It seems that it smells either of delicious food or foul trash, an odd juxtaposition. None of the street stands and markets get going til around 11, so I started with the Colonial area and Medeka Square, a nice little area with quite a bit of Islamic architecture to admire. By the time I went back to Chinatown, the market was in full swing, and I bought a wallet for about $4, but even then I overpaid. Learning how to order food here has turned out to be quite the ordeal. Most of the street stands put out little bins of food of all different types, though Chinese and Indian the dominant (and strangely, Malay is rare). Finally I figured out that you just point to the different dishes you want and then pay according to how much they put on your plate. My first surprise was that none of this food is hot, it is all room temperature. I assumed it had come straight off the wok or something. If you want something hot, you have to ask them specifically for it, and even then I have no idea what to order. The dishes all seem to fall into three vague categories, noodles, rice, or soup. Well, trial and error I suppose. Medeka Square is below:



Later I went to see the Petronas Twin Towers, a massively tall skyscraper in the city. On my way however, I stopped at Yat Low Plaza, the electronics mall in town. Damn, was that place cool. Seven floors packed full of electronics stands selling all sorts of stuff. I needed a memory stick to back up my pictures, and I got an 8GB Kingston one for just $14. I later looked up the price on Amazon and found they charge $18, not including tax and shipping. I'm tempted to go back but I really don't need the excuse of spending money. Then I was on my way to the towers. After a bit of wandering, I found an expensive bar in a hotel that gets a magnificent view of them, though I had to get a $5 coke, which is insanely expensive for Malaysia. Anyways, pictures below:



This morning, I had a blessedly slow start and went out to the Batu Caves, a little tourist trap of a place 8 miles out of the city, but nonetheless pretty cool. It is a cave system in a limestone (?) outcrop, crawling with monkeys and touting a giant Hindu statue. Definitely worth the $1 I paid to get out there. Here are a few pictures of it:



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details:
I got into the airport at 6:00 and at 6:30 leave the first bus out to KL. I jumped on that ($3) and it took me to KL Sentral station. From there, you can take a taxi, the easiest option, or hop on the monorail, which I did ($.50). It is above ground, and about a block from Sentral, so just find it by looking, following crowds of people, asking directions, or some combination of the three. I took it to Bukit Bingtant station, about 5 stops away, in the Golden Triangle area, which has lots of accommodation. I would recommend downloading a map of the area your hostel is in before going because street signs are confusing and without a map, it is quite difficult to find your way around. I stayed at Red Palm, a great, small, clean place with a cozy atmosphere ($8 for a dorm). To get to the Batu Caves, take bus 11 ($.50 each way). To catch it in KL, follow Jl Petaling (the Chinese Market street) north of there about a block or two until it forms a little triangle plaza with another street, there is a Bangkok Bank right there. The bus leaves from the triangle-island right there. To get back to KL, leave the gated area and turn right and walk a short distance past some souvenir shops to a concrete patio bus stand.